USDA TO STATES: SET YOUR OWN BAKE SALE POLICIES: The Department of Agriculture is pushing back against critics claiming that Uncle Sam is eliminating bake sales under the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act.

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In a recent letter to chief state school officers, Under Secretary Kevin Concannon reminded states that they have “complete authority” to set their own policies on exempting food fundraisers from new Smart Snacks standards that kicked in July 1. The letter urged states that have not already crafted a policy to make doing so a priority as the new school year approaches, but noted there is no deadline and that USDA does not need to approve the policy.

Earlier this week, Concannon also took to Huffington Post to “set the record straight” on the bake sale question. “Even before the Act was passed in 2010, USDA made clear in a letter to Congress a letter to Congress that it had no plans to limit bake sales and other fundraisers,” he wrote. The letter to states from last week can be found here: http://politico.pro/1tm94hA A roundup of state policies is here: http://bit.ly/U4dZG1 Concannon’s blog post is here: http://huff.to/VqRqvT . And the 2010 letter to Congress is here: http://1.usa.gov/1kZhudB

HAPPY FRIDAY! Welcome to Morning Ag where your host was intrigued to learn that Maryland’s new ban on high-proof alcohol is having unintended consequences. Apparently cake bakers and violin makers are not pleased about this: http://wapo.st/1sVB1y0 You know the deal: thoughts, news, tips? Drop me a line at hbottemiller@politico.com or @hbottemiller. Follow us @ Morning_Ag.

QUICK RECESS ANNOUNCEMENT: Next week Team Ag will continue delivering content to Pros, but we are taking a break from Morning Agriculture. Don’t fret, we will be back in your morning Inbox September 2. In the meantime, feel free to send us emails and/or vacation photos.

‘SMARTER LUNCHROOM’ STRATEGIES GET A BOOST: While we’re on the topic of school lunch, USDA announced yesterday that it is giving $5.7 million in grants to state agencies that administer the National School Lunch Program. Some of that money will go to states that are using "Smarter Lunchroom" strategies — a Cornell University-developed program that recommends best practices for students to make healthy eating choices. Smarter Lunchroom employs environmental cues — for example, using creative, eye-catching names for healthy food — to appeal to students. USDA’s announcement can be found here: http://1.usa.gov/1nh4xaq

CANADA-EU TRADE DEAL STINKS FOR U.S. CHEESEMAKERS: Pro Trade’s Adam Behsudi has the skinny: “U.S. makers of Asiago, Gorgonzola, Fontina, Muenster and Feta cheeses will soon have to call their products fake if they want to sell them in Canada.

“As part of a sweeping new trade deal with the European Union, known as the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, Ottawa has agreed to protect the names for a wide-range of European food products, including 173 cheeses, meats, alcoholic beverages, fruits and vegetables under what are known as geographical indications.

“But the agreement, which the two sides expect to finalize next month and is unlikely to be fully ratified for another year or more, affects more than just European and Canadian products. It affects all imported products, including cheeses from the United States. And that has U.S. dairy producers up in arms.” Pros can read Behsudi’s full story here: http://politico.pro/1ohy7vT

“The Consumer Reports analysis is limited in that it focuses exclusively on the mercury levels in fish without considering the known positive nutritional benefits attributed to fish,” the agency said in a statement provided on request to the media. “As a result, the methodology employed by Consumer Reports overestimates the negative effects and overlooks the strong body of scientific evidence published in the last decade.”

The National Fisheries Institute pointed to FDA’s response as evidence that CR is simply wrong in its assertion that tuna should not be consumed by pregnant women. “This is not about Consumer Reports and ‘industry’ disagreeing. It is about Consumer Reports promoting its own reckless, hyperbolic, quasi-science and in the process damaging its own credibility,” NFI spokesman Gavin Gibbons said in an email sent Thursday.

LABELS FOR TENDERIZED STEAKS NOW MANDATORY IN CANADA: As of yesterday, all mechanically tenderized beef must be labeled as such in Canada. The new mandatory labels also have to include instructions for safe cooking and stress the importance of cooking tenderized beef to a minimum internal temperature of 145 degrees, Ag Canada reports.

“The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is tasked with verifying retailers’ and packers’ labels meet the new requirements...Mechanical tenderization is a common practice for improving beef tenderness and flavor, using needles or blades to break down, penetrate or pierce the meat’s surface and disrupt the muscle fibers, or to inject the meat with a marinade or tenderizer,” the paper explained, noting that the practice can also introduce pathogens into the center of whole cuts of meat. USDA is aiming to require a similar label by 2016: http://politico.pro/1qvr2tb The Ag Canada report can be found here: http://bit.ly/1tmMBB4

ASA CONCERNED ABOUT EU REJECTING GMOS: The American Soybean Association is expressing deep concern over the European Commission potentially not authorizing new biotechnology products for import and food and feed processing despite positive evaluations from the European Food Safety Authority.

Failure by the commissioners to approve nine products — including soy beans, corn, rapeseed and cotton, that have received the go-ahead from EFSA — at a meeting that’s expect to happen in Brussels next month “will increase the risk of trade disruptions during the coming months,” the group says in an Aug. 20 letter addressed to Tonio Borg, EU commissioner for health and consumer policy.

The ASA also sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, asking that the administration immediately contact EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to ensure action is taken at the September meeting. Here’s the ASA letter to the EU http://bit.ly/1quLRF8 and to USTR: http://bit.ly/1quLRF8. Another hat tip to Pro Trade’s Behsudi.

BIG AG BANKS TO TALK BIG DATA: Agriculture lenders are expected to talk about big data issues when they get together in Omaha, Neb., for a conference organized by the American Bankers Association, Nov. 9-12. A free pre-conference seminar entitled, “Big Times Demands Big Data,” will look at “key components in analyzing ag credits and current observations,” the organizers say in a press release issued Wednesday to promote the event. The conference also is expected to cover the decision-making framework in relation to the new crop insurance subsidy offerings created by the 2014 farm bill as well as land-value outlooks. A keynote is expected from Harry Stine, founder of Stine Seed Company, in Adel, Iowa. Click here for more details about the event: http://www.aba.com/AgConference.

Authors:

About The Author

Helena Bottemiller Evich is a senior food and agriculture reporter for POLITICO Pro.

Before joining POLITICO, Helena spent four years reporting on food politics and policy at Food Safety News, where she covered Congress, the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Helena's work has also appeared in the Columbia Journalism Review and on NBC News. Her reporting has taken her to the Louisiana coast during the Gulf oil spill, Arizona lettuce fields, North Carolina hog farms and the occasional presidential turkey pardoning.

A native of Washington state and an alumna of Claremont McKenna College, she now lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband.